L'ingorgo - Una storia impossibile (1979)

A tremendous congestion hit the Roma highway ring. The biggest traffic jam ever seen endures for more than 36 hours. People blocked in their cars react at the beginning normally. But the more the time advance the more we are witness of personal dramas, hysteric reactions and more. All the episodes are linked like one only plot. Cars and their hosts are a microcosm of stories part of a major universe: the congestion.

"Traffic Jam" is a grandiose black comedy which is a little bit of Fellini's "Roma", Godard's "Weekend, and Bunuel's "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie." Along a Roman highway there is a monumental traffic jam that lasts 36 hours. We get to witness the dramas, personal and public, of a group of people in this pile-up of vehicles, an image no doubt to be taken as a microcosm of an aggressively cut-throat world. It is a movie that is in turn tongue-in-cheek, riotous, clever, and just plain funny. Extended cameo roles are provided by Alberto Sordi, Marcello Mastroianni, Ugo Tognazzi, Annie Girardot, and Angela Molina. It is a good example of "commedia all'italiana", a genre that combined rib-tickling humor with savage satire.